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The rejuvenation of a city, the reversal of a declining population and the chance to offer people and companies the chance to live and work within a couple of hours of Paris but at a fraction of the cost — this, for Alain Juppé, is the prize for Bordeaux.

Mr Juppé, Bordeaux’s mayor, believes that the high-speed rail connection — to and from Paris in two hours, rather than three — will transform the city he has led on-and-off for two decades.

“There is a concern that we could become like Lille, where people just commute to Paris, but we are more attractive